On Wednesday, October 20, 2010, Kenya celebrated its heroes. Instead of hanging around Uhuru Park and watching the parade, I went for a picnic at a park just outside Nairobi called Paradise Lost. The park, with its little lake where you can paddle boats, is surrounded by coffee plantations. There were plenty of picnickers, a camel, an ostrich, some horses, prehistoric caves (which seem quite comfortable for living in), and a beautiful narrow waterfall.
But back to Mashujaa Day. This was Kenya’s first Mashujaa Day (or Heroes Day). Up until this point, October 20 was known as Kenyatta Day, to honour Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first post-independence president.
Some critics say Kenyatta Day had become a little too Kenyatta-centric, instead of celebrating all the people who helped fight for Kenyan independence from British colonial rule.
So, on Mashujaa Day, Kenyans celebrate heroes like Dedan Kimathi, the Mau Mau freedom fighter, and a group known as the Kapenguria Six: Achieng' Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Kung'u Karumba, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, and Jomo Kenyatta.
Although I missed the president’s speech, the police parade and the fly-overs, I was a bit excited for Mashujaa Day. This is the first-ever Heroes Day, and it happened just a few months after Kenya proclaimed the Second Republic by passing its new constitution.
President Mwai Kibaki’s speech at Uhuru Park (which I missed) went like this at the beginning:
“It is my great pleasure to join you as we celebrate the first Mashujaa Day since the inception of our Second Republic that came into being following the promulgation of our new Constitution. Mashujaa are men and women who have made a lasting mark in the lives of fellow Kenyans and in the history and development of our country. They are men and women who have taken great risks in service to save, advance and protect their fellow citizens. These are also men and women whose hard work, courage and perseverance have had a great impact on the socio-economic well being of our people.”
Some of the mashujaa he mentioned included:
1. Successful Kenyan companies like Equity Bank, KCB Bank, East Africa Breweries (brewers of Tusker beer), Safaricom, and tea and flower farms. (In Kenya, business owners are heroes. They take their status as regional economic powerhouse seriously.)
2. Kenyan scholars including the author Ngugi wa Thiong’o (who teaches in the United States) whom I admire immensely. He was shortlisted for the Nobel this year for his novel ‘Wizard of the Crow’.
1. Successful Kenyan companies like Equity Bank, KCB Bank, East Africa Breweries (brewers of Tusker beer), Safaricom, and tea and flower farms. (In Kenya, business owners are heroes. They take their status as regional economic powerhouse seriously.)
2. Kenyan scholars including the author Ngugi wa Thiong’o (who teaches in the United States) whom I admire immensely. He was shortlisted for the Nobel this year for his novel ‘Wizard of the Crow’.
… but I was busy eating cheese sandwiches and exploring prehistoric caves when all this was being said.
